Here are the news articles you might find interesting today for commercial real estate and business:
Developer ready to channel energy into completing SouthBridge Luck hasn’t always been on Fred Unger’s side. Several years ago, the developer envisioned an “urban, pedestrian-friendly village” along the south side of the Arizona Canal in downtown Scottsdale that would “take its place among the world’s great destinations to shop, to dine, to live, to be seen” as it then was described on his company’s Website. His vision was realized with SouthBridge, a mix of restaurants, retail and offices along Stetson Drive. View article…
BROKEN CONDO PROJECT IN TEMPE SOLD FOR $11.3 MILLION . . . BEING OPERATED AS RENTAL UNITS A company formed by Pathfinder Partners LLC in San Diego, Calif. (Lorne Polger, principal) paid $11.3 million ($134,524 per unit) to buy 84 units within the 90-unit Dorsey Place Condominiums at 1275 E. University Drive in Tempe. The seller was Dorsey Place Condominiums LLC, a company formed by Kimberly Gardner-Graff Heritage Trust, Krystal Gardner-Wilkinson Heritage Trust, Christina Hutson Heritage Trust and Travis Achen Heritage Trust. County records show the buyer was Pathfinder Stratford Dorsey Condominiums LLC. View article…
CHICAG0-BASED FIRM DEVELOPING 423-BED STUDENT HOUSING PROJECT IN TEMPE A company formed by LG Development Group LLC in Chicago, Ill. (Marc Lifshin, partner) plans to develop a 423-bed student housing project in two towers located near the campus of Arizona State University in Tempe. The 1.6-acre site, formerly occupied by the Arizona National Guard, is located at College Avenue and Veterans Way. Representatives from the City of Tempe say plans call for 16- and 18-story buildings. The project, which will be connected by a two-story structure, will have 23,000 sq. ft. of ground level commercial space. View article…
GovNet buys Scottsdale building for $3.6 million GovNet Inc., a Phoenix-based telecommunications company, has purchased a Scottsdale building for $3.6 million. GovNet specializes in data integrity, secure high capacity transmission and customized networks. It purchased and will occupy the 32,766-square-foot facility at 7835 E. McClain Dr. The building was constructed in 1996. View article…
Trader Vic’s to close; new restaurant coming Scottsdale’s legendary Trader Vic’s restaurant is closing at the end of the month. A new restaurant will take its place and offer lunch and dinner to appeal to guests at the Hotel Valley Ho, hotel spokeswoman Kristin Heggli said. The new restaurant will have an expanded bar, and the kitchen will be led by chef Charles Wiley. Trader Vic’s, a Polynesian-themed restaurant and bar, is part of a chain founded in 1934 in Oakland, Calif., and has been a fixture in downtown Scottsdale at 77 W. Fifth Ave. from 1962 to 1990. View article…
New top-tier steakhouse to open in Scottsdale in September A Valley restaurant group that succeeded with high-end steakhouses in Scottsdale and Beverly Hills is returning to the Valley this fall with a new entry at Scottsdale Quarter. Restaurant partners Mike and Jeffrey Mastro, Scott Troilo and Oliver Badgio are developing Michael Dominick’s Lincoln Avenue Prime Steakhouse. The $6 million, 350-seat restaurant will feature a partially enclosed rooftop patio with a reflecting pool but no view and a piano bar off the main dining room. View article…
Scottsdale home prices dip 7 percent in June Scottsdale median prices for homes and condominiums continued to fall in June from the previous year, according to the latest monthly report from Arizona State University Realty Studies. Sales were up 7.1 percent for homes but declined 28 percent for, condos. View article…
Arizona running out of blue collar jobs Arizona has been adding jobs at a slow pace in recent years. A new study by 24/7 Wall St. says the state is running out of a certain kind of jobs — blue-collar jobs. Arizona came in sixth out of the 10 states that are running out of blue-collar jobs fastest the site said. View article…
Retail Recovery Signs: Landlord Concessions Taper Off While Investment Sales Crank Up Landlord concessions are showing signs of tapering off, while property sales crank up. In spite of a wobbly job market and falling housing prices, the retail real estate sector is recovering. The retail vacancy rate in the first quarter stood at 7.1%, according to the CoStar Group, a Washington, D.C.-based research firm, in line with the fourth quarter of 2010. However, asking rents in the first quarter fell to $14.86 per sq. ft., from $14.91 at the end of 2010, reports CoStar. View article…
Distress Claims $181 Billion in Commercial Real Estate Sector Distressed commercial real estate in the United States stood at $181.1 billion in June, according to the analysts at Delta Associates. That tally includes properties in default, in foreclosure, and lender REO. The firm says the amount of distress in the commercial real estate (CRE) sector has increased by $500 million since April but still remains on the low end of the plateau range. The level of distress began to plateau in spring 2010, according to Delta Associates, and has stayed between $175 billion and $190 billion since then. View article…
Feel free to contact me regarding any of these stories, the current market, distressed commercial real estate opportunities or your property.